Wife had a wreck last night

-
moparmat2000

moparmat2000

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 13, 2010
Messages
20,872
Reaction score
10,848
Location
Grand Tetons
My wife had a wreck last night coming home from work. She is ok, airbag did not deploy. She is just a little shaken up. Some woman not paying attention, blew the red light and clipped the front end on my wifes van. 2012 dodge grand caravan. She hit the brakes and this womans toyota clipped the front end. I am sure theres frame damage,

Good news is based on its retail value for the mileage, it will probably not be totalled. If its totalled we are back to square 1 with a payment and of course looking for a vehicle to replace it under duress. Its easier to leisurely look for a car when you got one to drive, so your not under any pressure to just get it done and over with. It will be payed off next year, then the plan is to drive it another 2-3 years, and get our moneys worth out of it.

The other good news is the parking lot dent somebody left in it on the drivers fender will now get fixed, as well as the scrape on the grille and front bumper where the garage door came down on it because she didnt have it backed up enough one day when she hit the door remote and the door came down on it.

Bad news is the other driver did not have insurance, and i will have to pull $250 out of pocket to pay the deductable. Ifbi didnt have uninsured motorist on my policy it would have been $500. I guess depending on how this goes, it may be an issue for small claims court.

I cannot stand uninsured drivers. In my mind those people suck. I shouldent be out any money due to somebody elses negligence and stupidity. Even basic liability insurance is cheap if you cannot afford anything else.

It gets picked up by the auto body shop for an estimate tomorrow. Metlife said if the cost to fix it reaches 70% its concidered totalled. KBB stated condition and mileage private party sale is $9,100. Trade in is $7,500. Not sure what numbers the insurance company goes by.

Wish me luck
Matt
 
Matt, so thankful your wife is okay. Hope everything works out best for you
 
20161121_175057.jpg
I hear you. my wife had an accident last week. We live in a farming area and a farmers steer got out! It was black and at night. Almost totalled her yukon denali! She is fine but, wow a 1400 pound steer.
 
What a bummer.

I carry a bunch of extra uninsured motorist just because of crap like that. You can sue in small claims to get your deductible back. Hell, who knows, you may end up on Judge Judy!!!

The government has been carping on compulsory insurance for decades and all it did was drive up the cost for those of us who have it.

The more I think about it, the more I'd sue for the deductible. Get what you can out of her. Hopefully, your insurance company pursues the claim to the fullest.
 
Wow, I'm sure glad your wife is OK. Sounds like she saw the other car coming and minimized the damage. Good on her!

But that uninsured driver thing is nuts. Around these parts auto insurance is mandatory, and you earn yourself a $5000 fine for driving without insurance: No Insurance carries no demerit points, however, if found guilty you are liable on a first conviction to a fine of not less than $5,000 and not more than $25,000 and on a subsequent conviction to a fine of not less than $10,000 and not more than $50,000
 
This young girl is in a whole heap o trouble. No insurance in Texas is a fine up to $1,000, suspension of drivers licence, and motor vehicle registration, and your vehicle getting impounded for up to 180 days at the cost of $15 per day. I am gonna take her to small claims court for the other $250 too.

Again i reiterate how much i hate effin uninsured drivers. Had she not been driving that car uninsured i wouldent be out of $250, also if she had not been driving because the car was uninsured then there would not have been a collision in the first place. It comes down to F me??, no F you !!
 
Glad everyone is ok.

If it totals, you are entitled to full market value (what it would cost to replace it with the same year, make, model and options).

You should also go after diminished value. Although your vehicle may be repaired correctly, a vehicle with collision history is worth less. You are entitled to that difference (if your state allows for diminished value).
 
Sorry to hear about that Matt. Glad your wife is ok. Hope the financial side works out for you. WA state has mandatory insurance rules too but a lot of people ignore it until their caught. Good luck.
 
Important thing is the wife is ok. Gotta keep her in good health and working! Lol. Seriously tho glad shes ok
As autopar stated up here its $5k if you are caught with no insurance.
Best of luck with everything
 
I agree with the gang here, the number one concern here is that the bride is OK! It could've
Been much worse had the girl hit the cabin with your wife driving!! Yes, the van can be fixed, but the bride safe and sound is what really counts!!
 
Great that she is ok for sure. I would seriously find out why the air bag did not go off. Call the dealer at the least.
 
halifaxhops said:
Great that she is ok for sure. I would seriously find out why the air bag did not go off. Call the dealer at the least.
Click to expand...

Air bags (the SRS system) use all kind of information to decide if they should deploy. Inertia sensors, vehicle speed sensors, occupant sensors and actual crash sensors.

In lower force impacts the system decided what's needed. Sometimes it will just fire the seatbelt pre tensioner other times, nothing at all.

It's all normal and it's how the system is designed to work.

The hit, being a front end "clip", is unlikely to trigger any of the above.
 
Glad your wife is okay. well if the airbags did go off that would jack the cost up well over $10,000, the bags, sensors, harness, and computer would all have to be replaced. But thankfully the best thing is your wife is okay, that's all that matters
 
1. So glad to hear the wife is fine. Modern cars are great and safety features are a wonderful thing.
2. The insurance company is going to send an adjuster out to look at the car. The adjuster writes an estimate of his own. At that point the body shop will know to start repairs or not.
Here's the kicker, when the body shop starts the tear down, they may (very likely) find hidden damage. The B/S will submit a supplement to the insurance co estimate. No big deal unless you're teetering on the edge of a total.
If the car is inside your total # they will fix and life is cool. If not, then you get a check for the value of your car prior to the accident. There is a 3rd option, but lets hope it doesn't come to that.
3. As for diminished value, (or DV) you are looking at a catch 22 here. Your uninsured motorist policy is paying for the repair. You're in a unique position that you are the payer and the payee. In short, you're not likely to get that from your insurance co. but it won't hurt a thing to ask.
4. Don't be surprised if the estimate that is written isn't loaded with aftermarket and salvage parts. That may be the difference between a total and a repair.
5. Not all is lost! The driver of the car that hit you is on the hook for the DV as well as any other cost's you incur. The down side, it becomes a civil issue and that means lawyers and court. A court case you likely will win. From what I understand, Texas has an issue with deadbeats. The next thing is collecting.
The best suggestion I can make is to approach the prosecutor, explain the situation and hopefully a judge will make it so she can't can't have a license until she makes you whole. But it's been my experience that she'll just drive without a license.
Good luck! The process sucks, but I've lead many a person thru it and you'll be ok.
 
Glad the wife is ok, like others said you can replace vehicles but lives are another story. As retired trooper I would file a claim for resitiution with the district attorney or city attorney where ever the crash occurred.
This can be for your out of pocket deductible and any other lost wages, rental car costs if not covered by your insurance,etc. As long as they are real costs there is no limit. Once the court orders restitution it stays with the person till payed. I filed one in 2008 for a crash with an uninsured and just received final payment, also have to pay nominal interest. Just one method without an actual lawsuit.
 
We need public hangings! Glad your wife is ok.I hate theives.Driving without insurance is theivery.Most people don't carry enough insurance to cover anyone if they get hurt and drive like it's a contest to see how fast they can get there!
 
Thank you for all the advice guys. Right now we are just waiting on the insurance adjustor to do his thing so we know more. Insurance company stated they would be using aftermarket crash parts. I'm ok with that. We dont live the rustbelt, and only plan on keeping the car maybe 3 more years before selling it. If aftermarket replacement parts keeps it under so its not a total, then lets go with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top